Composition of matter and process of making same.



To all whom it may concern:

" UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

Evmmr'r B. 'coox, or DANVERS, nassacnosnrrs, assrenon '1'0 risnnrnomrorsl comm, or BOSTON, massaonusn'r'rs, A oonroaarron or MAINE.

COMPOSITIOiN' F MATTER 'AND PROCESS MAKING SAME.

No Drawing.

Be it known that I, EvERE'rr a citizen of the United States, residing Danvers, chusetts,

at county of Essex, State of Massadescription. 4

Thisinvention relates to a novel composition of matter which-is designed as'a substitutefor rubber or leather, and alsotoa process for making such composition of matter.

My novel composition of matter has many, of the characteristics of both. rubber and or leather is used and forms inevery way a very desirable substitute for leather or rubber.

The composition of matter relates to that general type which is made by incorporatmg a fibrous material with, a rubber compoundand one of the objects of the present invention is to provide a composition of matter of this type'which'can'be vulcanized without causing anydeterioration of the fibrous material. V I In the preferred embodiment of'my invention, I employ fiberized leather as the fibrous material which is to be incorporated with the rubber compound but I do not wish to be limited necessarily to In manufacturing my improved comound I first rovide so-called fiberiz'ed eather, by whiei I. mean leather which is reduced to its true or original fibrous condi lion, that is, leather-in which the individual fibers thereof have been separated 1' rom each other but retained as far as possible in their full length. Auy suitable leather may be used for producing the leather fibers but for thc'sake of cheapness I preferably make these leather fibers of scrap leather which has ve little commercial value. For se curing t e best results I will preferably also employ leather having a long, tough and specifical ion of Letters Patent. Application filed nay 31,1913. Serial No. 770,961.

have mventcdan Improvement in Compositions of Matter and Processesof Making Same, of which the following is a manufactured much more cheaply than fiberized leather.v

Patented May 12,1914.

oak sole United States Patent No. v845,721 granted February 26, 1907 to George E. Sovereign. Leather which-is reduced to its elementary fibers in this manner has the flufi'y appear-- ance of Wool or cotton. After-securing the leather fibers as above described, I next mix these leather fibers with a rubber compound, which can be done by subjecting the rubber and the leather fibers to'the action or. an ordinary rubber grinding machine which,-as is well-known, is provided with a pair of parallel, closely-arranged steam-heated metallic rollers driven at slightly different speeds, and between which the materials to be mixed are passed. While it Wi1l:be possible well developed fiber such, for example, as is I Y B. 00 1;,- found in Union,

a proper I 4 but in practice I have to use different rubber compounds forthis purpose, yet I prefer a ru ber compound which is capable of vulcanization so that if desired-the mixture of rubber and leather. fibers may be subjected to a vulcanizing process. I have found that a rubber compound containing the following ingredients makes a suitable one for use in manufactur-- mg my improved composition matter but I wish it understood that the proportions of the ingredients and the in edient's them selves may be varied somew at without departing from the invention. For a tenpound lot of the composition I may take one and tlu'ee-quarters pounds .of Para or other equivalentrubber, two pounds of reclaimedrubberof good quality, four ounces of'sulfur, one and seven-eighths pounds of a filler, such for instance, as diato-n'iaceous earth or tripolite, and one and one-half 'ounds of lilharge and a small matter, such for instance, as lamp black or some other suitable material. The diatomaceous ,earth not only acts as a filler but it has binding qualities, it does not harden or injure the rubber in'any way, it is comparatively, light in weight and also has resiliency i so that when it is embodied in the rubber,

.it not only furnishes the required filling but it also reduces the weight of the resultant quantity- 0 coloring pounds of leather fiber although 'I wish again to state that this exact proportion is not essential. J This leather fiber may be mixed wit-h the rubber compound in an ordinary rubber grinding mill such as above described, but in order to retain the life of the leather, it isessential that the rollers of the rubber grinding mill should not be heated to such a temperature as to injure leather; in other words while it is essential to have the rolls hot in order to soften the rubber to permit the leather fibers to become mixed therewith, yet it is equally essential that the temperature should not be sufiiciently hot to burn or injure the leather fibers in any way. The passing of the rubber compound and leather fibers repeatedly through the rubber grinding machine causes the fibers to be thoroughly intermixed with the rubber compound so that said fibers become united into a homogeneous sheet by the rubber binder. My invention, however, is not limited to this particular manner of thoroughly intermixing the. leather fibers and the rubber compound as any suitable way of securing this end may be adopted. The product thus produced can be vulcanized, if vulcanization is desirable. Where the product is to be vulcanized it is essential that this should be done at a temperature which while sufficient to accomplish the vulcanizing process is still insufficient to burn or injure in any way the leather fibers. 'li find from experience that a temperature of approximately 135 Fahrenheit will meet these requirements, although this exact temperature is not essential and can be varied so long as it is suflicient to accomplish the vulcanizing process without injuring or causing any deterioration of the leather fibers.

The composition produced as above is superior to rubber for many purposes such as soles for shoes, since it not only has the resiliency and water proof qualities of rubber but is lighter and tougher than rubber and has greater wearing qualities and also has a frictional grip which rubber does not have. Furthermore, it can be sewed like leather whereas ordinary rubber will not hold stitches. Moreover, the composition can be worked, polished and burnished like leather and will hold its edge during such processes whereas rubber will tend to crumble or chip .whcn worked with edged tools. 6

My improved composition may be employed for foot wear, door mats, carriage steps, tread surfaces and innumerable other purposes for which rubber is often utilized.

While I have herein disclosed for purposes of illustration ingredients of one specific form of my composition and have described a particular way of compounding the same, yet it is to be understood that my invention is limited neither to the particular proportions nor to the particular ingredients herein described, nor to the detailed steps for compounding the said ingredients, and that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

It is preferable to use a leather which is comparatively free from oil as the oily constituent of leather has a deleterious effect on rubber. duced to its elementary fibers, as above described, this process results in eliminating substantially all the oil that may be left in the leather, since the free access of the air to and between the separated fibers during and after the fiberizing' action, tends to remove the oil by oxidization.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: i 1. A composition of matter comprising vulcanized rubber compound having dis.

tributed throughout its mass elementary leather fibers which retain all their natural toughness, strength and pliability.

2. A composition of matter'comprising a vulcanized rubber compound having dis tributed throu hout its mass elementary leather fibers w ich are in their normal condition and have been unafiected by heat.

-3. The process of making a composition of matter which consists in intermixing elementary leather fibers with a vulcanizable rubber compound and then vulcanizing the product at a temperature which is insuflicient to burn or otherwise injure the leather fibers.

4. The process of making a composition of matter which consists in mtermixmg elementary fibers with a vulcanizable rubber compound and then vulcanizing the product at a temperature which while sufiicient to efiect vulcanization of the rubber is yet insufiicient to injure the fibers.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my 1:

I find that where leather is re- 8 

